Gum-roll governor for envelop-machines.



, A. LAUBSCHER. GUM ROLL GOVERNOR FOR ENVELOP MACHINES. APPLIUATION 111.111) NOV. 29, 1911.

1,029,304. Patented June 11, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ULL I v WITNESSES.-

4 [NfE/VTOR. I 3y ATTORNEYIS.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH 120., WASHINGTON. n. C

A. LAUBSOHER.

GUM ROLL GOVERNOR FOR ENVBLOP MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1911.

Patented June 11, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J INVENTOR. W (AM/6W ATTORNEYS.

I 1113-41. dfiwfifiwu UNKTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST LAUBSOHER, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED STATES ENVELOPE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MAINE.

GUM-ROLL GOVERNOR FOR ENVELOP-MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, AUGUST Lannsorrnn, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Gum-Roll Governor for Envelop-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in gum-roll mechanisms for envelop-machines (such as the mechanism which forms the subject-matter of United States Letters Patent, No. 962,153, issued June 21st, 1910, and of which the present invention is in the nature of an improvement) and more particularly to stop motions or devices for the gum-rolls of such mechanisms, and consists of certain peculiar mechanism for automatically interrupting the operation of the gum-transferring roll when the envelopblank support or elevator is lowered, so that the acts of receiving and transmitting gum by said roll are temporarily suspended, and for automatically starting the gum'roll when said elevator is raised, all as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple but practical and etlicient governor of few parts for the gum-roll-actuating mechanism of an envelop-machine, which prevents the gumroll from reciprocating while the elevator is lowered, and permits said gum-roll to resume operations upon the raising of said elevator, whereby an excessive gumming of the gum-roll and pickers is avoided, likewise the spoiling of envelops by the application thereto of too much gum.

As is well understood, the gum-roll transfers the adhesive material or gum from a suitable source of supply at one end of the travel of said gum-roll to the pickers, and

the latter in turn deposit the gum on the flaps of the envelop-blanks on the elevator. It is plain, therefore, that in the absence of a governor for the gum-roll the latter will reciprocate constantly and so receive an eX- cessive amount of gum and transfer to said pickers an excessive amount while the elevator is lowered for an additional supply of blanks, there then being no blanks in position to receive the gum from the pickers as 1t is applied thereto. In consequence of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 29, 1911.

Patented June 11, 1912.

Serial No. 663,124.

this the flaps of the first few blanks at the top of the replenished pile receive too much gum when such pile is raised into operative position by the elevator, which necessitates the rejection of a like number of envelops as defective. An extra and injuriousamount of gum will be deposited on the flaps until the excessive amount on the roll or on the roll and pickers, accumulated during the time required to lower the elevator, place a new pile of blanks thereon and raise the same, becomes exhausted, the objectionable transfer of surplus gum to the blanks continuing until the quantity of gum on the transferringmembers diminishes sufficiently to restore such members to nor- 'mal condition and bring about the transfer of gum to the flaps in the proper manner.

As before noted, my invention entirely obviates the ditliculty and removes the ob jection just pointed out.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of that part of an envelop-machine with which my invention is intimately associated and shows a practical form of said invention embodied therewith, the elevator being raised with a pile of envelop-blanks thereon and all members disposed in operative positions, excepting the governor latch-rod which is in its retracted and inactive position; Fig. 2, a detail in section of said latch-rod and the supporting bracket therefor at the outer terminal; Fig. 3, a perspective view of most of the importantmembers which are directly and indirectly involved in my invention, the elevator here being shown in its low position and the governor parts in their active positions with the gum-roll-actuating mechanism, above the operating cam therefor, stationary; Fig. 4, a top plan of the operating lever or arm for the aforesaid latclrrod, and, Fig. 5, a front elevation of the lug or dog on the elevator by means of which said arm is operated, and of said arm itself.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Generally speaking my invention comprises, with the gum-roll-actuating mechanism provided with a certain projecting member, a latch-rod adapted to be moved into and out of the path of travel of said member, and means for operating said latchrod, such means being subject to the controlof the elevator; the whole constituting governing mechanism or a governor for the gum-roll whenever said elevator is raised from or dropped to its low position, to the end that the action of the gum-roll is stopped each time said elevator is dropped and said gum-roll is set in motion each time said elevator is again raised, that is, such governor is automatically operated by the elevator and in turn throws out of action said gum-roll-actuating mechanism when the elevator is lowered or dropped and permits said mechanism to resume its normal action or function only when the elevator is raised, wherefore the gum-roll is inactive all the time that the elevator is down and is itself inactive.

Before describing my governor in detail and as illustrated in the drawings, I will first briefly mention the old parts of the envelop-machine therein appearing and which are more or less intimately associated with said governor, and so far as seems necessary or desirable explain the same.

Portions are shown of a table 1, an end standard 2, a front arch 3, and a rear arch 4. At 5 is one of a set of pickers attached to the base of a vertical rod 6arranged to reciprocate through the arch 3. A front guide-rod 7 for a corresponding slide 8 of a gum-roll 9, is supported by horizontal arms 1010 extending forward from the arch 4 and hangers 11-11 depending from the front ends of said arms. Suitably journaled below the table 1 is a rock-shaft 12 to which are rigidly attached two upwardlyextending actuating arms for the gum-roll 9, one such arm only being shown at 13, and a laterally-extending arm 14. Each arm 13 is connected with the corresponding gumroll slide 8 by a rod 15. 16 is a camand spring-actuated arm for imparting motion to the rock-shaft 12 through the medium of a connecting-rod 17, such a-rm having its rear terminal pivoted at 18 to the standard 2. The arm 16 is provided with a roller 19 which normally rides on a cam 20 mounted on a suitably journaled shaft 21. A spring 22 is arranged to draw the arm 16 downward with the roller 19 on the cam 20. A gum-box 23, for the gum-roll 9, is upheld by a bracket 24 fastened to one leg of the arch 3. Fastened to the underside, of the table 1 is an elevator frame 25 in which an elevator 26 is arranged to move up and down. The elevator 26 is provided with a platform 27 for envelop-blanks 28.

When in operation the gum-roll 9 receives its supply of gum from the gum-box 23 and deposits it on the bottom of the pickers 5 which in turn transfer it to the blanks 28 one after another, all in the usual and wellknown manner.

A horizontal shaft 29 is journaled in suitable bearings on the elevator frame 25 and has two pinions 30 to mesh with the same number of racks 31 on the elevator 26. On the front terminal of the shaft 29 are a ratchet-wheel 32 and a hand-wheel 33. A detent 34, for the ratchet-wheel 32, is pivoted at 35 to the adjacent part of the frame 25, and a spring 36 normally draws said detent into engagement with said ratchetwheel. On the front edge of the frame 25 is a lifter-bar 37 having a limited vertical movement and carrying an actuating pawl 38 normally pressed into engagement with the ratchet-wheel 32 by means of a spring 39 also on said lifter-bar. The lifter-bar is given an upward tendency by means of a spring 40. A rock-shaft 41, suitably mounted in front of the table 1 and above the plane thereof, carries two rearwardly-eX tending paper fingers 42. In addition to these members, means, such as those shown more fully and described in the hereinbefore-mentioned patent, are provided for depressing and elevating the lifter-bar 37 from the rock-shaft 41.

Then the machine is in operation, the lifter-bar 37, acting through the intervening ratchet mechanism, raises the elevator 26 step by step for the purpose of presenting the blanks 28 at gumming position, said elevator traveling upward intermittently until the last blank is removed therefrom. The hand-wheel 33 is employed to raise the ele vator with a pile of blanks thereon until the uppermost blank is in range of the pickers. The elevator is released and permitted to drop by pressing downward on the tail of the detent 34 and thereby throwing said detent and the pawl 38 out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel 32.

I will now take up the new features.

The connecting-rod 17 is provided with a suitable fixed member, in the form of an adjustable two-piece clamp collar 43 in the present case,which affords a shoulder so arranged on said connecting-rod that a horizontal latchrod 44 can be thrust beneath it when the arm 16 is supported on the high part of the cam 20, said connecting-rod with said collar then being in the most elevated position. When the connecting-rod is in this position, the gum-roll 9 is at the righthand end of its travel, or at the most distant point from the gum-box 23, being thus disposed by the rocker-arm 14, the rock-shaft 12, the rocker-arm 13, the rod 15, and the slide 8.

The two sections of the clamp collar 43 are fastened together on the connectingrod 17 by means of bolts and nuts in the usual manner, and this enables me to adjust said collar at the proper height on said connecting-rod to cooperate with the latch-rod 44 in supporting the parts as hereinafter explained. The upper edge of the collar 43 which is contiguous to the latehrod is chamfered, as shown at 45.

The latch-rod 44 is mounted to slide in suitable bearings at or adjacent to the ends thereof, one such bearing being fastened to the back side of the elevator frame 25 and appearing at 46, in Fig. 3, and the other bearing being in the standard 2 and a bracket 47 fastened tosaid standard on the outside thereof. The aforesaid bearings are located at the proper height to enable the latch-rod to be thrust beneath the collar 43 when the latter properly adjusted is in its highest position. The outer end of the latch-rod is beveled, as shown at 48, the inclination of such beveled part corresponding with that of the beveled or chamfered part 45 of the collar.

The latch-rod 44 is made in two sections so arranged as to afford an opportunity for the rod to yield when in the path of the collar 43 when it ascends. A slip joint is formed between the aforesaid latch-rod sections, which joint consists, as best shown in Fig. 2, of a shank 49 at the inner end of one section and the adjacent terminal of the other section which has a longitudinal passage 50 therein to receive said shank, to gether with a spring 51 interposed between adjacent ends of said shank and passage to thrust said first-mentioned section outwardly, and a pin 52 rising fro-1n said shank into a longitudinal slot 53 in the top wall of said passage to limit such outward movementnnd prevent rotation of either section relative to its companion. The latch-rod as a whole is prevented from turning in its bearings by means of a pin 54 which extends downwardly from the outer or nose-piece section into a central longitudinal slot 55 in the horizontal part of the bracket 47 The inward movement of the latch-rod is limited by the pin 54 in the slot 55, and a spring 56 is employed to retract said rod and retain it normally in a retracted posit-ion with said pin in contact with the inner end of said slot, such spring having one terminal attached at 51 to the section of the latchrod in which the passage 50 is located and the other terminal attached to the back of the elevator frame 25. Inserted in and pro jecting from the inner ]atchrod section, between the point 57 and the bearing 46, are two vertical pins 58 whichare spaced apart.

Secured to the left-hand face of the frame 25, behind the rear rack 31, is a bracket 59, and pivotally mounted intermediate of its ends in this bracket, at 60, is an operating lever or arm 61 for the latchrod. The

back end of the arm 61 is forked at 62 to engage the latch-rod bet-ween the pins 58. The front terminal of the arm 61 extends to the right of a dog'63 which is securely fastened against the back side of the forward rack 31 and has a slanting edge 64, Fig. 5, to engage such terminal. the slant being from above downward to the left. The dog 63 is so positioned that, when the elevator 20 descends, said dog actuates the front terminal. of the arm 61 to the right and the rear terminal of said arm to the left and so causes the latch-rod 44 to be moved to the left against the resiliency of the spring 56. hen the elevator ascends, the dog 63 releases the arm 61 and the latch-rod to the spring 56, and the latterimmediately draws said rod into its retracted position again.

Starting with the elei ator 26 in its low position, as shown in Fig. 3, the complete operation of the governor is as follows: The operator, after placing a pile of envelop-blanks 28 on the elevator platform 27, quickly rotates the hand-wheel 33, in the direction of the arrow in said view, and thus raises said elevator until the top of said pile is brought into the field of operation of the fingers 42. The machine now commences to gum and remove the blanks from the pile, one at a time, and the operator has nothing to do with the gumming and feeding of the blanks, but must drop the elevator again when the pile is exhausted or nearly so, as presently explained.

The aforesaid gumming operation commences, when the elevator is raised, because the slanting edge 64 of the dog 63 then releases the arm 61 and the latch-rod 44 to the action of the spring 56, and said spring at once draws said latch-rod from beneath the collar 43, thus permitting the gum-rolloperating mechanism to follow the cam 20. The partsare now disposed as shown in the first view, and the gum-roll 9 is reciprocated beneath the pickers in the usual manner.

The dog 63 and the arm 61 are so constructed, proportioned and arranged, and timed to the positioning of the elevator with its pile of blanks by means of the handwheel, that the blanks are in place ready to receive the gum by the time the gum-roll is brought into action, regardless of the size of the pile of blanks, provided a little care is exercised by the operator, and in any event the raising of the pile into operative position need not be and, of course, should not be delayed long enough to allow the gum-roll to accumulate a suflicient amount of gum to spoil even one envelop.

The elevator continues to move upward underthe influence of the lifter-bar 37 until the pile of blanks on the platform 27 has disappeared or it is desired to replenish the same, when the operator thrusts the detent 34 out of engagement with the ratchetwheel 32 and thus permits said elevator to drop.

The dropping of the elevator instantly brings about a cessation of motion on the part of the gum-roll 9, and causes such roll to be left idle at the end of its path of travel which is opposite the gum-box 23, because the gum-roll is in that position when the high part of the cam 20 is under the roller 19 and it is when the connecting-rod 17 with its collar 43 is thus elevated that the latch-rod 44 is thrust beneath said collar.

hen the elevator 26 descends with the dog 63, the latch-rod 44 is advanced through the medium of said dog and the arm 61, in

the manner already explained, and if at this time the collar 43 happens to be in its highest position the beveled end of said latch-rod at once slides under the adjacent side of said collar, but in the event said collar is below said beveled end of the latchrod the collar in rising forces inward the outer section of said latch-rod, against the resiliency of the spring 51, passes above the plane of said section, and then comes to rest on the contiguous end thereof, since said spring acts immediately to thrust said section into engaging position. In either case the stopping of the gum-roll is brought about almost if not quite instantaneously, and it is stopped at the desired point.

Until the latch-rod is retracted by the raising of the elevator again, the cam revolves without affecting the arm 16 and the parts connected therewith and actuated thereby.

From the foregoing it is plain that I have greatly simplified the construction of the governor without impairing the usefulness of the same.

Modifications in the shape and size of the governor members and minor changes in their construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the nature of my invention.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an envelopmachine, the combina-' tion, with a gum-roll, and mechanism for operating the same, such mechanism being provided with a projecting member, of a member slidingly mounted adjacent to the path of travel of said projecting member, an elevator, and a pivotally mounted member operated by said elevator in its clownward movement to actuate said sliding member into said path to arrest the movement of said projecting member, said pivotallymounted member being operatively con nected with said sliding member.

2. In an envelop-machine, the combination, with a gum-roll, and mechanism for operating the same, such mechanism being provided with a projecting member, of a horizontal member slidingly mounted adjacent to the path of travel of said projecting member, a horizontal pivotally mountedopcrating member for such sliding member, and an elevator provided with means to actuate said operating member and thereby cause said sliding member to be thrust into said path to arrest the movement of said projecting member.

3. In an envelop-machine, the combination, with gum-roll-operating mechanism provided with a projecting member, of a horizontal member slidingly mounted adjacent to the path of travel of said projecting member and spring pressed in one direction, a horizontal pivotally mounted operating member for such sliding member, and an elevator provided with means to actuate said operating member and thereby cause said sliding member to be thrust into said path to arrest the movement of said projecting member. I

4. In an envelop-machine, the combination, with gum-roll-actuating mechanism provided with a projecting member, of a jointed longitudinally-yielding member slidingly mounted adjacent to the path of travel of said projecting member, a suitably mounted operating member for such sliding member, and an elevator provided with means to actuate said operating member and thereby cause said sliding member to be thrust into said path to arrest the movement of said projecting member.

A gum-roll governor, for envelop-machines, comprising, with a gum 'roll-actuating mechanism projecting member and an elevator projecting member, a slidinglymounted latch rod spring-pressed in one direction, such latch-rod being in operative .relationto said first-mentioned projecting member, and a pivotally-mounted arm connected with said latch-rod and being in operative relation to said second-mentioned projecting member.

6. The combination, in an envelop-machine, of gum-roll-actuating mechanism consisting in part of a connecting-rod provided with a collar, a slidingly-mounted latchrod spring-pressed in one direction and adapted to be thrust beneath said collar, a pivotally-mounted arm operatively connected with said latch-rod, and an elevator provided with a dog, said arm being in operative relation to said dog.

7. The combination, in an envelop-machine of gum-roll-actuating mechanism consisting in part of a connecting-rod provided with a collar, a slidingly-mounted latch-rod spring-pressed in one direction and adapted to be thrust beneath said collar, such latchrod comprising two slidingly arranged spring-pressed sections, a pivotally-mounted arm operatively connected withsaid latch rod, and an elevator provided with a dog, 3-: i

(siaid arm being in operative relation to said 8. The combination, in an envelop-111achine, of guin-roll-actuating mechanism consisting in part of a connecting-rod provided with a collar, a slidingly-mounted latchrod spring-pressed in one direction and adapted to be thrust beneath said collar, such rod having its outer end beveled, means AUGUST LAUBSCHER. Witnesses F. A. CUTTER, A. G. FAIRBANKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington. D. G. 

